The Flower and the Deer
by SmileEmLovesYou
Summary: [Minor DH Spoilers] And then she saw it. The most beautiful creature she had ever seen.  She had, of course, seen deer before, but this one was like no other. LJ Oneshot


_She turned on her heel and hurried away._

"_Evans!" James shouted after her, "Hey, EVANS!"_

_But she didn't look back._

She wouldn't give that idiot Potter and Sev—no, _Snivellus _the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She ran and ran as fast as she could to the lake's edge, away from the crowd and when she was finally out of breath, she rested her back against a tall tree that had provided a comforting place of her own for her ever since first year, and let her tears fall freely.

'_Best friends my arse'—_thought Lily. In the end she should have known…he was in fact, a Slytherin. But he used to be different…those stupid prats in his House had changed that sad, disturbed young boy who told her she was a witch so long ago.

In one 24-hour time period she had lost her best friend, and worse, been humiliated in front of half the school when he uttered that foul word—_Mudblood._

_Potter._

It was all his fault. The very day before she and Severus were fine, best of friends, as always…then he had to go and mess it all up.

Oh, how she hated him. Literally hated him. Always thinking he was the King of Hogwarts, picking on people for fun, destroying friendships…

She didn't know how long she had been there. The sun was now beginning to set, so she must have been there hours, just sitting, crying, staring at the water. All of a sudden, she heard a rustling of leaves behind her. Startled, she drew her wand and spun around, ready to hex whoever was there…

_And then she saw it._

The most beautiful creature she had ever seen. She had, of course, seen deer before, but this one was like no other.

The stag was standing perfectly postured, magnificent horns perched strongly on both sides of its head, and its large, hazel eyes bore into her green ones. It was hypnotizingly beautiful, and without thinking that the animal was large enough to pin her to the tree and trample her, without realizing that this was a wild animal, and could be diseased, she reached her hand out and stroked its head.

Surprisingly to her, the stag didn't move away. Instead, it sort of leaned into her touch, like having her touch it was saving its life. She knew it was silly to think it, but the stag almost seemed _human. _

"Hullo there." She cooed. "My name's Lily."

The stag paid no attention, still enjoying the feel of her hands stroking its head.

"I guess you just wanted to get away from everything too, huh?" Lily said sadly. "Don't you have any more deer friends? I guess not…I don't have any friends anymore either."

And within the next few hours, the young, redheaded beauty proceeded to tell the stag everything about her. How her bratty sister Tuney was jealous of her being a witch, of the many rumors that Voldemort would one day take over, about Severus, and surprisingly, about Potter.

"He annoys me so much sometimes. You know, if he would deflate his head a little I might take him up on those offers to Hogsmeade, he is quite good looking…but I just couldn't be with someone who was that full of himself."

Lily looked around her. The sky was now a dark blue, and sprinkles of stars dusted beside the moon.

"I guess I'd better be going…I'll probably be in trouble for being out so late…I just hope that someone besides Professor McGonagall catches me…she'll be sure to take 50 points, even though I am in Gryffindor."

The stag then pulled on her robes with its teeth, and jerked its head towards the bushes. Almost like it wanted her to follow it…

"You want to show me something?" Questioned Lily. Slowly, but surely, she followed the stag, unable to explain her deep trust for the animal.

The stag led her to a pile of leaves in the middle of the forest floor. It pulled away from her, and gently moved the leaves with its nose, revealing something that quite resembled a trap door.

"Does this lead me to Hogwarts?"

The stag responded by tugging her robes again, ushering her toward the door.

"Thank you!" she cried excitedly, her tone then grew soft and sad as she gave the stag one last stroke on the head

"I hope I'll see you again."

And with that said, she climbed through the trap door.

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When Lily reached the end of the tunnel, she found herself climbing out of a portrait right across from the Fat Lady. Amazing. How had the stag known? Quickly looking both directions for a teacher, she darted across the hall, hissed the password at the portrait, and climbed into Gryffindor common room.

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Surprisingly to Lily, she did, in fact, see the stag again. Every other Friday for the next two school years, when she went to her tree, the stag would be there, and she would tell him about her day and stroke its soft, velvety head. In fact, one night in her seventh year, Lily had some surprising news for her friend.

"Do you remember that boy I tell you about sometimes? The arrogant one? Potter? Well, he's not so arrogant anymore. He's actually kind of pleasant to be around now. And he's asked me to go out with him tomorrow…er…again. Only this time I told him I would."

She giggled as she felt him nuzzle her hand.

"I'm glad you approve…time for me to go back…see you soon."

And the stag watched her leave.

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"Where are you taking me now, James!"

A blindfolded Lily giggled as the boy drug her by the hand to the last stop on their date, (which had been quite pleasant as a matter of fact.)

"You'll see. We're almost there."

A few more minutes went by and then James stopped.

"Okay."

He removed the blindfold from Lily's emerald eyes and she looked around, shocked of her surroundings.

"This is my place…how did you?"

"Shh…."

James placed a finger to her lips as she began to question him.

"There's something I need to show you."

His hands were still holding hers and he played with her fingers gently for a brief second.

"Stay here."

Lily watched as her date stepped away from her, their eyes completely locked until he stopped and closed his. A gold light enveloped him, and Lily shielded her own eyes until it had passed. When she reopened them, in the place of James, was a very familiar, beautiful stag.

Lily's eyes were wide and her right hand was clamped tightly over her mouth. The gold light flashed again and James was back.

"I….It was you all along wasn't it?" Lily whispered, her eyes watery as she walked toward him.

James nodded, and Lily, who was now directly in front of him, stroked his cheek and leaned up to give him a long, tender kiss. When they broke away, Lily's eyes were now pouring with tears, though her face held the most beautiful smile James had ever, or would ever see.

"So that's why they call you Prongs?"


End file.
